


besides my reputation's on the line

by towokuwusatsuwu



Category: Crows Zero (Movies)
Genre: Carrying, Communication, Companionable Snark, Established Relationship, Height Differences, Kissing, M/M, Multi, OT5, Polyamory, group date
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-11
Updated: 2018-07-11
Packaged: 2019-06-08 20:54:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15251847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/towokuwusatsuwu/pseuds/towokuwusatsuwu
Summary: kazeo finds an issue in just how much shorter ryohei is than him and how awkward that makes any attempt to kiss his shortest boyfriend. shibata, goura, and yamashita are less of a help than any trio of boyfriends kazeo has ever met but at least shibata offers him some advice that just might bridge the gap.





	besides my reputation's on the line

Gathering in the club has become something of tradition for them; Kazeo always arrives first, picks out a booth, and guards it fiercely from any other patrons until his men slowly trickle inside to join him. Shibata tends to arrive first, not for any reason that Kazeo can detect but he does, sliding into the booth across from him, knocking their ankles together beneath the table, flashing Kazeo a smile that’s finally started to reach his eyes. He only has the side of the booth to himself for a few minutes, though; Goura shows up not long after, shouldering him aside so he can sit down, and then Yamashita squeezes in next to him moments later.

They make a pretty trio side by side and Kazeo would never say it out loud, but he likes looking at them lined up like this. Likes the sharp contrast between Shibata’s cropped blond hair against Goura’s shaggy black, the fact that Yamashita favors his brown jacket over loud patterns in comparison to the other two who stick to black on black. Surely there’s never been anyone so lucky in life as Kazeo who can let his gaze linger between the three of them while they wait for their fifth person to join them.

Until then, they order drinks and talk amongst themselves, and it’s almost music, the difference in the timbers of their voices, the fluctuation, the low almost purr of Shibata’s voice when he murmurs and the high, bright sound of Yamashita’s laughter before he smothers it away with the palm of his hand. Kazeo might just be a little bit in love with the three of them, the similarities and contrasts of these three men tied together and leaving him just a bit breathless.

Inevitably, Ryohei shows up. He’s always a little late, and they never quite manage to hold out long enough for him to join them before they order anything. But Kazeo knows what he likes and has his drink waiting for him, shifting out of his seat so Ryohei can take the inside of the booth, the more comfortable position for him. He’s still terribly awkward and quiet and being on the inside leaves him boxed in comfortably away from the other patrons.

Kazeo sits down next to him and lets Ryohei get comfortable before he slouches back into position, pulling his beer closer to him. With everyone here, he finally feels content.

Unlike the others, Ryohei is quiet and keeps to himself for the most part, sipping from his drink and occasionally throwing in a word or two here and there though he mostly keeps to himself. Kazeo values the few words he speaks, holds them near and dear to his heart. He knows Ryohei is hardly shy, that he only drags himself here because Kazeo asked him too nearly a dozen times as nicely as humanly possible, and even then the others had to pile on before Ryohei finally stopped shooting them down and showed up.

He pulls a face when Goura snorts at something Yamashita says, picking a piece of ice out of his glass and tucking it between his lips, biting down so hard that Kazeo winces at the sound. When Ryohei catches him staring, he flicks the drops of beer on his fingers at him.

“Don’t look at me like that,” he says.

Kazeo raises an eyebrow at him. “Look at you like what, exactly?”

“ _ Oh, _ our little prince is getting flustered, huh?” Shibata winks across the table and Ryohei picks a piece of ice out of his glass to throw at him, just barely missing. “That aim of yours is getting better, you know, you almost actually hit me that time.”

“You’re such an asshole. I don’t even know why I came here,” Ryohei mutters.

Yamashita accidentally kicks Kazeo under the table, a quick glance down revealing his true goal, brushing his leg against Ryohei’s. “Because you  _ love _ us and you wanna spend time with us. And this is like the only time any of us have to do that.”

“Hard to juggle a date with five people,” Goura adds.

Ryohei flushes and curls in on himself, wiping his wet fingers on a napkin as he does. “Whatever. Just don’t fucking call me that anymore.”

He’s still a little prickly. It’s a work in progress.

When Ryohei excuses himself to the bathroom, Kazeo waits until he’s out of sight before turning to the trio sitting across from him. “I need your advice on something. It’s about Ryohei.”

“You wanna know how to dump him? Because—” Goura wheezes when Shibata elbows him in the ribs, effectively cutting off his train of speech.

Yamashita sighs, then props his chin on top of his tented fingers. “What is it you need to know?”

“He’s, ah… I was going to kiss him last weekend but I kind of ran into a problem. He’s a bit— You know, a bit short, and—” Kazeo stops himself with a quick gulp of beer, almost choking on it in the process. “I can’t lean down far enough? It kind of hurts my neck to try.”

A moment of silence passes before the other side of the table erupts into laughter, leaning on each other while they do, and it’s not fair, Kazeo thinks. That was a serious question and it’s not a funny matter; he doesn’t want to develop a spinal cord injury trying to kiss his shortest boyfriend considering he already has to bend down a little to kiss these three. Shibata is the only one who ever meets him halfway but Goura and Yamashita would sooner die than lean up on their toes to lessen the strain for him.

“Your fucking problems.” Goura slings an arm around both Shibata’s and Yamashita’s shoulders; Yamashita grabs his wrist in one hand while Shibata looks vaguely annoyed. “Get him a box.”

Shibata smacks his shoulder for that one. “Shut up. That’s only gonna piss him off even more. Just pick him up, y’know? He’s small, he doesn’t weigh anything.”

Kazeo blinks at him. “He might attempt to kill me if I do something like that.”

“Do you got other options?” Yamashita asks, voice sweet and sugary before it drops back into a deadpan. “You don’t. So give it a shot. He might not like us calling him little prince but that’s what he is and if he doesn’t swoon off his damned feet, I’ll pay next time.”

When all five of them are pleasantly buzzed— it takes fewer beers for Ryohei, who is smaller and drinks less than the rest of them. They have a movie planned for the night and the theater is within a comfortable distance that they can walk, holdings hands, slinging arms around each other; Yamashita has a nasty habit of hanging off of anyone who will bear his weight and the last time he was properly drunk, Kazeo carried him home in his arms like a sleeping princess. Ryohei tucks himself up under Kazeo’s arm, a normal occurrence because Kazeo’s arms happen to be at the perfect height for Ryohei to wrap around himself as he pleases.

The movie is good enough for them; it takes real effort for Yamashita and Shibata to stay quiet during the more actiony sequences and more than once Kazeo glances over to see Goura shoving his tongue down Yamashita’s throat to quiet him down. It makes him painfully aware of the question he asked them before they left the bar.

Once the movie is over, the trio disappears into the bathroom, talking animatedly about the film while Kazeo stands outside of the theater with Ryohei, waiting for them. They have no plans otherwise, and Kazeo thinks they might all end up at his house, passing out across his bed and floor as the night grows deeper. For now, though, it’s just him and Ryohei.

“What did you think of the movie?” he asks, thumb stroking gentle circles into Ryohei’s shoulder.

Ryohei wrinkles his nose up at him. “It was fine, I guess. I didn’t like it as much as  _ they _ did. But I guess when you’re getting your face sucked off, the movie doesn’t matter.”

“You sound a little jealous,” Kazeo muses.

“I’m  _ not _ jealous. We’re all dating so I don’t have to be jealous.” Ryohei scrapes his shoe along the concrete and then sighs, pushing Kazeo away from him. “But  _ you _ kiss them all the time and you don’t really kiss me that much and like, that’s not right, is it? You’re  _ my _ boyfriend, too.”

Kazeo’s kissing conundrum has officially gotten him into more trouble than he planned for. “You’re right,” he says, not willing to try to argue the point. He avoids kissing Ryohei when they’re standing, and he knows it’s true. “I’m sorry. Want me to take it up to you?”

“God, shut up. That’s so corny.” Ryohei hides his face behind his hands but splays his fingers, peeking through them up at Genji. “...Would you mind? You kind of owe me.”

That he even feels he has to ask makes Kazeo want to smack himself for letting Ryohei feel less than to begin with. “No, I wouldn’t mind. I like kissing you.”

The pleased expression on Ryohei’s face settles his discontent somewhat and he remembers Shibata’s advice, crouching down just enough that he can get his arms around Ryohei properly. Of course, Ryohei reads the action incorrectly, lets his eyes fall closed and puckers his lips just a little, prepared to be kissed, and the sight makes Kazeo’s chest ache uncomfortably. Then he gets his hands around the backs of Ryohei’s thighs and picks him up, thinking he must weigh absolutely nothing with how easily he comes up off of the pavement.

Ryohei squeaks— Kazeo  _ refuses _ to ever forget that sweet sound— and wriggles in Kazeo’s arms, fingers fisting in the jacket of his coat. “What are you doing?  _ Put me down. _ ”

“The reason I haven’t been able to kiss you so much is because our heights are too far apart.” It’s better than just calling him short, right? “I’m just making up that difference.”

“Oh.” Ryohei makes a face, as if struggling to decide how he feels about that, before he leans forward, wrapping his arms around Kazeo’s neck. “Do a proper job of it, then.”

Kazeo presses Ryohei’s back up against the brick wall of the theater to keep him balanced and kisses him. He has such soft lips, smooth and warm against Kazeo’s own mouth, and he relaxes into the kiss instantly. It’s such a  _ cute _ quality, coupled with the lack of experience Kazeo would have never expected such a beautiful boy to have. He’s young, still, and he’d been so lonely before Kazeo came into his life to change that, so Kazeo makes every small touch and movement count, kisses him slow and long until he feels Ryohei’s lips tremble against his own. He tastes vaguely like beer and the butter from the popcorn he picked at through the movie.

It’s not a bad taste, all things considered. Kazeo licks it out of his mouth and doesn’t miss the way Ryohei whines softly, fingers pulling at his hair.

With as light as Ryohei feels in his arms— made of steel that he is, all muscle— Kazeo hoists him up a little higher so that Ryohei is just slighting above him and Ryohei nips at his lip, pulling it between his teeth. It’s a heady sensation to be sure, having Ryohei above him like this and he smiles against Ryohei’s lips, unable to help himself—

“We miss  _ all _ the fun, don’t we?” Yamashita’s voice startles them both and Kazeo’s arms instinctively tighten around Ryohei even as he breaks the kiss, whipping his head around to see their boyfriends arm in arm staring at them.

Ryohei groans, tipping his head back. “You’re the  _ worst. _ ”

“Our little prince really does like being picked up after all,” Goura says and Ryohei flushes even as his eyes narrow, his fingers tightening in Kazeo’s hair.

“Stop, stop, stop.” Shibata waves his hands through the hair, then claps one over Goura’s mouth when he tries to argue. “You two enjoying yourselves? Are you  _ blushing, _ little prince?”

“I hate you all so much.” Ryohei tries to wiggle down but Kazeo just keeps holding onto him until Ryohei scowls up at him. “This is betrayal. Set me back down.”

“But I like holding you like this.” Kazeo bites back a laugh when Ryohei blushes even harder before hiding his face in Kazeo’s chest, punching his shoulder hard enough to hurt before grabbing onto him once again. “Somehow, I don’t think you mind so much, either. Would you like me to carry you the rest of the way? I thought we’d go back to my place.”

Yamashita pouts horribly. “I thought you were into carrying  _ me _ around, though?”

“He’s  _ busy _ ,” Ryohei snaps, tightening his grip on Kazeo once again. “Since you owe me, you should carry me back. It would only be fair, I think.”

Kazeo notices the glint in Yamashita’s eyes as he throws his hands up and takes a step back before winding both arms around Goura’s shoulders. “Okay, okay. I’ll settle for this.”

“I’m offended you consider it settling when it’s me,” Goura says.

“Settle for me, instead.” Shibata pushes his way between them, letting Yamashita cuddle up to him just how he likes. “Your place then, Kazeo. Lead the way with the brat prince.”

Kazeo rolls his eyes at the display but shifts Ryohei around until he can princess carry him; Ryohei shoves his face against Kazeo’s neck and clings to his shoulders, still clearly embarrassed by everything but doing his best to play along. If Kazeo whispers a little praise to him as he walks, careful not to jostle Ryohei too much in his arms, then so be it. He feels like he could get drunk off of this alone, the way Ryohei feels in his arms, the litany of laughter and whispers from behind him, the promise of four beautiful men spending the night in his room when he came to Suzuran with absolutely none of this planned out beforehand.

Fighting wasn’t supposed to lead to something like this. Bloodshed wasn’t supposed to lead to brotherhood, supposed to lead to something still fresh and new that he’s hesitant to call love even if he’s sure that’s what it counts as.

Ryohei eventually calms down enough that Kazeo takes the opportunity to steal kisses at stop lights, ignoring the way the others whine at him for only kissing Ryohei. After all, he owes him, and he can feel Ryohei smiling against his mouth every time someone complains. By the end of the night, Kazeo has no doubt he’ll be pinned under these four, kissed until his mouth is sore and numb, until he won’t be able to properly speak around his swollen lips for the next few days. It’s fine, though. Kazeo would never have it any other way.


End file.
